Traditional typesetting practices (involving movable type) involve a mechanical arrangement of types to be printed on paper. Such arrangement includes a selection of typefaces, type size, and spacing between letters and line. With the advent of computers and word processing software, typesetting has become mostly automated. As such, users of modern word processing software rarely adjust the typesetting beyond font selection and line spacing.
As the resolution and quality of computer displays has increased, the display of text has approached the resolution and quality of type on paper. Studies have been done to examine the impact of various typographical features on the legibility, readability and comprehension of written material, in print or on screen. Academic debates on the best practices are on-going. Nevertheless, by and large, practices from the past several hundred years of printing typography remain state-of-the-art. In some cases, these printing practices are carried over to electronic reading devices, while in other cases they are neglected.
As individuals desire to read large amounts of text and data, often from disparate sources and often under time pressures (real or perceived), traditional practices of displaying textual information are often deemed to be insufficient. To address this need, inventors have developed methods of displaying information using computer-based systems outside of typographical traditions. One of the first alternative views was called “fisheye” in which the foremost content of interest is enlarged or shown in great detail while the adjacent content, often just landmarks, is reduced in size proportionally as distance increases. This enables the user to perceive the entire content while focusing on the salient content.
There have been many attempts at facilitating quick browsing or skimming without reading the whole text. Generally, methods relate to applying focus on salient units of text (typically keywords) within a typical textual layout by making these units stand out visually (by modifying the font or highlighting), and in some cases obscuring/defocusing the non-salient text. Text summarization methods have also been developed in an attempt to reduce the quantity of text to be read and these methods continue to be a major area of academic pursuit.
Alternative presentation formats have gone as far as eliminating the traditional format entirely and presenting text sequentially one or a few words at a time, at a user-adjustable rate, in a speed-reading fashion. Here, the intent is to eliminate all but the most immediately salient word(s).
In all of these alternative text presentations, the underlying assumption is that the reader is fully literate and able to read the displayed text. Irrespective of these alternative text presentations and the best typographical practices, there still remain a large number of individuals for whom reading is difficult, whether on paper or on an electronic display. There are many reasons for this that impact the type of solution that is most appropriate.
Beginning in the 1980s, the field of assistive technology for persons with disabilities regularly began using text-to-speech or synthetic speech to read computer-based text aloud, primarily for communication purposes for non-speaking persons. In the 1990s, this same technology became popular in the field of education to assist persons with learning disabilities particularly in conjunction with word prediction technology. In addition to visually adjusting the text itself, the linking of speech output to the text became commonplace to aid in the reading of text. In particular, word-by-word highlighting synchronized with synthesized speech (text-to-speech) became the accepted norm. Research in the 90s provided evidence that speaking text with word-by-word highlighting was more effective in improving reading by persons with learning disabilities than reading plain text alone.
The method of highlighting text either by whole sentence or by individual words and having it spoken aloud with the aid of synthesized speech is now commonplace in reading applications for consumer computer systems (including tablet-style) and standalone electronic devices such as eReaders and other reading/learning devices.